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Some days ago, nuTonomy has been authorized to test its driverless cars on selected public roads in the US city Boston, Massachusetts. The first test will take place in December 2016 with an electrically driven Renault Zoe in the Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park in the Seaport section of the capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In order to ensure a secure ride, high-performance sensing and computing equipment controls nuTonomy.

CEO and co-founder of nuTonomy, Karl Iagnemma, said, “Boston and Massachusetts are leaders in rethinking the future of transportation, and we are grateful for their partnership and support of nuTonomy’s efforts to develop a fleet of self-driving cars to serve the public. These tests in the City of Boston will enable our engineers to adapt our autonomous vehicle software to the weather and traffic challenges of this unique driving environment. Testing our self-driving cars so near to nuTonomy’s home is the next step towards our ultimate goal: deployment of a safe, efficient, fully autonomous mobility-on-demand transportation service.”

(nuTonomy)

The public launch of a commercial robo-taxi service with a widespread availability is planned for 2018 in the world’s only island city-state Singapore. Co-founder and chief technology officer Emilio Frazzoli estimates that 300,000 driverless taxis could do the work of the 780,000 privately owned cars in Singapore. Emilio Frazzoli aims to deploy thousands of driverless taxis in a few years within Singapore.

MIT startup nuTonomy will test intends to enlarge the test area in Boston in the near term

In Boston, the team intends to gain further knowledge. The MIT team investigates how the electrically driven nuTonomy deals with local signage and road markings. They evaluate measurement data and improve the system with the goal of improving the interactions with pedestrians, cyclists, and other vehicles in the flowing urban transport. It is also planned to enlarge the test area for nuTonomy in Boston in the near term.

Mayor Walsh, 54th and current Mayor of Boston, said, “Boston is ready to lead the charge on self-driving vehicles, and I am committed to ensuring autonomous vehicles will benefit Boston’s residents. This is an exciting step forward, and together with our public and private partners, we will continue to lead the way in creating a safe, reliable and equitable mobility plan for Boston’s residents.”

In so far as it is necessary to ensure a safe ride, a nuTonomy engineer observes the system performance and assumes control if needed. Furthermore, the city of Boston monitors the effects of autonomous vehicles, and will further identify how autonomous vehicles will further the safety, access, and sustainability goals of Boston’s transportation plan, Go Boston 2030. Eventually, the capital of Massachusetts plans to deploy self-driving cars.

Human failures are the reason for around 94 percent of crashes according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

“As companies look to begin testing autonomous vehicles, MassDOT will work through the AV Working Group created by Massachusetts Executive Order No. 572 to manage a rigorous approval process and respective safety protocols,” said Transportation Secretary and CEO Stephanie Pollack. “Criteria and credentials needed for testing will be thoroughly evaluated, such as a private company’s demonstrated experience, licensing, inspection and registration status in order to ensure the safety of the public.”

In excess of 35,000 people died resulting from a road traffic accident in the U.S. in 2015. Human failures are the reason for around 94 percent of crashes according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). It is expected to reduce fatalities and injuries with self-driving cars like nuTonomy enormously. Additionally, passengers have more freedom to do others things during the ride instead of steering the car. The electric motor of nuTonomy can reduce the carbon footprint of transportation in the urban realms. Charging stations with renewable power would make the entire transport 100 percent eco-friendly without harming the climate.

... book a free ride in a nuTonomy autonomous taxi with nuTonomy’s ride-hailing smartphone app

Singapore continues to play a leading role in promoting autonomous vehicles. It is very impressive to follow the frequent news of the Lion City in South-East Asia regarding self-driving cars. NuTonomy researched and tested its autonomous taxi during the last months in Singapore. Recently, a further step towards a practical implementation has been made. The first-ever public trial of a robo-taxi service has been launched on 25 August 2016 within Singapore’s one-north business district. Since April 2016, nuTonomy conducted daily autonomous vehicle (AV) tests in this region.

Autonomous taxi nuTonomy driven by electric motor

Selected customers can book a free ride in a nuTonomy self-driving car with nuTonomy’s ride-hailing smartphone app as of 25 August 2016. Furthermore, the rides do not produce exhaust emissions. Passengers are free to choose between a Renault Zoe or Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric vehicle. Both are specially configured for autonomous driving with high-performance sensing and computing components. Charging stations with renewable power would make the entire transport 100 percent eco-friendly without harming the climate.

For safety and service reasons, a nuTonomy engineer is accompanying the rides. He assumes control if needed and monitors the system performance. However, the researchers kill two birds with one stone. During the road trials, they are gathering useful data on the system performance, the vehicle booking process, vehicle routing efficiency, and the passenger experience. The continuous improvement is carried out for a certain purpose: The public launch of a commercial robo-taxi service with a widespread availability in the world’s only island city-state in 2018.

(nuTonomy)

CEO and co-founder of nuTonomy, Karl Iagnemma, said, “nuTonomy’s first-in-the-world public trial is a direct reflection of the level of maturity that we have achieved with our AV software system. The trial represents an extraordinary opportunity to collect feedback from riders in a real-world setting, and this feedback will give nuTonomy a unique advantage as we work toward deployment of a self-driving vehicle fleet in 2018.”

Down to the present date, nuTonomy is the only private company which is allowed by the Singapore government to test self-driving vehicles on public roads. Furthermore, nuTonomy is actively involved and operating in Michigan and Great Britain.

...preparing a fleet of driverless taxis for the city-state of Singapore

In recent time, there are regular published news about driverless vehicles. For example, Nissan and the London based architecture firm Foster + Partners recently unveiled their “fully connected vision of the future“, a team at the University of Michigan intends to lead a revolution in mobility by Mcity, and an international group of researchers presented a mathematical based model for a more efficient flow of driverless cars crossing an intersection. Now, Singapore grabs the headlines with a driverless taxi.

Driverless Taxi, called nuTonomy, accomplished its first test drive in Singapore

“This could make car-sharing something that is almost as convenient as having your own private car, but with the accessibility and cost of public transit,” says nuTonomy co-founder and chief technology officer Emilio Frazzoli, an MIT professor of aeronautical and astronautical engineering.

The nuTonomy team, including Emilio Frazzoli (third from left, standing), with one of their driverless cars (Courtesy of nuTonomy)

Now, nuTonomy, a small MIT spinout, is preparing a fleet of driverless taxis for the city-state of Singapore. In order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fuel consumption, it follows an optimal path for picking up and dropping off passengers. Former taxi driver will probably become unemployed – In return it is supposed to be cheaper than Uber and common taxis because there is no need to pay the driver.

300,000 driverless taxis could do the work of the 780,000 privately owned cars

The driverless taxi, driven by an electric motor, already accomplished its first test drive in Singapore. Without any failure, nuTonomy navigated a custom obstacle course. At the moment the researcher work to get an approval for on-road tests in a business district, called One North. Emilio Frazzoli aims to deploy thousands of driverless taxis in a few years within Singapore.

Driverless taxi uses LIDAR data

According to Frazzoli, it is unlikely that public-transit operators lose their job. “In Singapore, they want to have more buses, but they cannot find people to drive buses at night,” he says. “Robotics will not put these people out of jobs — it will provide more capacity and support that’s needed.” Frazzoli and his colleagues estimate that 300,000 driverless taxis could do the work of the 780,000 privately owned cars. This in turn can reduce, in theory, the number of operating vehicles of about 60 percent.

For a more precise localization, nuTonomy uses LIDAR data. This surveying technology measures distances by illuminating a target with a laser light. The term was created as a portmanteau of ‘light’ & ‘radar’. Still, some think it is an acronym of Light Detection And Ranging. LIDAR is regularly used to develop high-resolution maps with applications like in geodesy, archaeology, geography, geology, forestry or airborne laser swath mapping (ALSM). LIDAR is occasionally simply known as laser scanning or 3D scanning, with terrestrial, airborne and mobile applications. NuTonomy’s system detects objects and localizes stationary objects all around the car.